


Ashes to Ashes

by Syraaaaa



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Needs a Hug, Bad Parent Gabriel Agreste, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gen, How Do I Tag, Hugs, Hurt, Hurt Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Hurt/Comfort, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug, My First Fanfic, Not Beta Read
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:41:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23792527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Syraaaaa/pseuds/Syraaaaa
Summary: Adrien has been pulled from school, and coincidentally Chat Blanc emerges on the same day. What happen's when Ladybug doesn't have Chat Noire to save her this time?
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Kudos: 46





	Ashes to Ashes

The building she ran out of crumbled as she made a hasty retreat. She was hoping to put some distance between her and Chat to try and summon her lucky charm. It was a near certainty that the akuma was in his bell, since it was one of the more prominent things on his outfit. That other than his belt or his ring, and she really hoped it wasn't his ring.  
Ladybug landed on a building while quickly swinging her yo-yo toward a nearby lamppost. While Chat may be faster than her on foot, her weapon gave her a bit of a leg up on him. She needed to get to a spot where she could take a breather and strategize.

She swung for a few more minutes before hearing a furious roar in the distance. Thinking herself safe, she dropped down into an alley and slumped onto the wall, panting.   
The heroine didn't understand what happened to cause this mess. She woke up unusually on time, and made it to class with some minutes to spare. Alya and Nino were already there, speaking to each other in a soft worried tone that immediately put her on edge. Walking up to she asked what was wrong.

"It's Adrien, his Dad is pulling him out of school." Nino answered, looking distraught.

"What, why?!" Marinette's anxiety spiked hearing the news.

"I don't know, I barely got that much out of him. He's stopped answering my texts"

"I can't believe that man, I oughtta strangle him for this one!" Alya continued to rant but Marinette wasn't listening.

This was wrong. What happened to make Mr. Agreste no longer allow Adrien to go to school? He barely had any freedom in the first place, and now he's being restricted even more. This was going way too far. She may admire his designs, but if this is how he continues to treat his son then she may be with Alya on this one.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by her, as well as the rest of the class', phones going off. Realizing it was an akuma alert, everyone left the classroom. Alya dragging Nino in hopes of getting her next scoop, while the rest of the class were a little more sensible and went looking for somewhere to hide. Using that as a guise, Marinette ran to the bathroom. She checked the stalls to see if the coast was clear, transformed and leapt out the window.

It didn't take long to find the akuma, the first reason being that it was close by and the second more prominent reason being the trail of carnage in its wake. The peaceful street once filled with cafes, boutiques and other small shops looked desolate. Crumbled buildings, cracked roads, and a distinct lack of other objects and buildings. It was as if someone plucked the buildings and once parked cars from existence. That is, if it weren't for the fine layer of ash that could be found in they're place. It almost reminded her of-

There. A flash of white down the road, on her right. Ladybug swung her way over, landed in front of the figure and took in what was in front of her. Then promptly froze.  
"Chat Noir?" Hearing her, he growled and lunged forward with his hand outstretched.

Getting her bearings, she dove out of the way just in time to see his hand land where she had once been. The ground cracked and began to crumble as it began to lose its integrity. She scrambled to get her footing as the pavement beneath her gave way. Once she got to an appropriate distance she started to analyze the situation. It pained her to think about what might have caused Chat's akumatization, but if she wanted to win then she needed to keep her wits.

The fight was back and forth, with a lot of close calls. She was struggling with her attempts at getting the akuma. She was more long range oriented when it came to fights, while Chat was always short range. It’s one of the reasons that they worked so well together, they balance each other out. In this case it left her at a disadvantage. Every time she got close enough to grab his akumatized object, he would lash out with a cataclysm. It seemed he didn’t have a limit either, considering how many times he’s used it and she still hasn’t heard anything from his ring. She’s not even sure he could detransform even if he wanted to.

Chat didn’t seem to want to talk either, despite her attempts. Every now and again he would let out an animalistic snarl or growl in fury, but other than that he was silent. She was pretty sure he could still talk like most akuma victims, considering his reactions to her verbal prodding. The young heroine gave up trying to talk, since it only seemed to rile him up further. Chat’s anger making him quicker, and more deadly. His clawed hand had nearly ripped her throat out a couple times, and a few cataclysms had nearly grazed her.

Feeling herself begin to tire, she made a decision.

Ladybug bolted.

After gathering her breath in the alley she summoned her lucky charm. A leaf blower fell in her hands.

She blinked.

Then an idea formed. It was incredibly risky, but it was the best she had right now. Taking a deep breath, she jumped back on the roof and made her way back at a brisk pace. She was on a timer now after all.

Landing at a nearby rooftop, she watched as he made his way further down the road to the undamaged buildings, about to summon his cataclysm. She inhaled deeply to steady herself for what she was about to do. Leaping off the rooftop while shooting her yo-yo forward, she hit the ‘on’ switch on the leaf blower. Hearing her, Chat whirled around. Before he could move to catch her, she swung low, close enough to have an effect without putting herself in immediate danger, and aimed the blower at the ground.

Ash leapt from the pavement, filling the air with a thick toxic cloud. She made sure to blow enough of it that she would still be able to maintain an element of surprise. She dropped the heavy lucky charm on the pavement and hastily swung out of the smoke. Following the sound of coughing, she swung back around, held her breath and dove back in.

Being near blind, she aimed for the sound of his hacking and flung her weapon towards him while running forward. He yelped, and in his surprise she took the chance to rip his bell off and pin him to the ground. But she forgot one important detail.

_“CATACLYSM!”_

Pain flared in her right ankle, right where he had managed to wriggle his hand out from under himself to touch it. She stumbled, falling backward as she watched in muted horror as her foot slowly turned the same ashy color she had seen the pavement in, and began crawling its way up her leg. Realization dawning on her, she crushed the bell and hoped beyond hope she got the right one. Before the black butterfly could even flap its wings a second time, she already had her yoyo clasped around it. She let it go just as quickly and turned away to get her lucky charm. But it wasn’t there. Starting to panic she looked around the area, the ash cloud dissipating, and found the leaf blower. It’s over a meter away, in the same place she ditched it after making the toxic cloud. Mentally berating herself, she attempted to get up.

Ladybug couldn’t feel her legs.

She looked down and found that the near black color had spread to both her legs, beginning to make they’re way up toward her hips. She won’t be able to crawl fast enough to get it in time. Ladybug won’t make it. Marinette won’t make it.

A groan roused her from her thoughts. Looking up, she realized that Chat was noir again. At least she got that right. Knowing this gave her a little bit of peace. Even if she may not make it, Chat would be okay.

* * *

Chat Noir slowly opened his eyes. He didn’t recognize where he was. Everything was a smoky gray color. It was difficult to breathe, the air thick with a scent he recognized from his cataclysms. He didn’t remember using his powers. Chat squinted, going through his memory in hopes of understanding the situation.

He had been in an akuma attack the day before. Apparently an employee of his father’s had been fired that afternoon. Feeling unfairly judged, the akuma had sought out revenge against him in form of his son. The school was attacked. And before he had the chance to try to escape to transform, Adrien had been captured. With Hawkmoth’s eyes on him, he knew he was stuck. The akumatized victim brought him out onto the roof and held him over the edge.

He fell. The crowd and reporters on the school courtyard watched as Adrien Agreste was dropped from 3 stories up. If he transformed before he hit the ground, everyone would know.

Thankfully, Ladybug had arrived quick enough to save him before he hit the pavement. She set him down safely in an area nearby, checking to make sure he was okay. After getting the all clear, she leapt back into the action. Adrien ran away, looking for a good hiding spot. Unfortunately, the media had found him. No longer having the ability get away, he was escorted back to his ride by Natalie. The trip back to his house was quiet like usual. But it felt off. Once he stepped through the front door, he knew he had done something wrong. His father stared at him with a hardened gaze with the faintest hint of concern.

“You will no longer be attending school”

Before Adrien could even protest, Mr. Agreste continued. Due to the high volume of akuma attacks centered around his school and the incident today, his father had decided that it was too dangerous to allow him to go to school and had even lessened his outdoor activities like photoshoots and fencing for the time being. After his explanation, Gabriel left. Natalie recited his new schedule and dismissed him.

He numbly walked into his room, finished his homework, checked his phone, got ready for bed, and went to sleep.

It didn’t hit him until he woke up the next morning that he wouldn’t see any of his friends anymore. His hands shook as he brought up a past recording of his piano practice, he couldn’t play it right now even if he tried. Unable to stand being in his room any longer, Chat Noir leapt out the window.

He ran on the rooftops, not daring to stop. Hot angry tears ran down his face. It wasn’t fair. No one else has to deal with this. Everyone else had the freedom to go outside. They could hang out with they’re friends. They could go to school! Why couldn’t he?! What did he do wrong? He didn't understand.

Dark wings flapped towards Chat, but he didn’t care to hear them.

He tripped, his eyes blurry with tears. Rolling, he tried to lessen the impact of his fall. By the time he noticed the butterfly, it was too late.

The world went black.

“Chat” Hearing her he rolled over and took in his surroundings. After a few agonizing seconds he realized what happened and looked over at Ladybug.

“My lady, was I akumati-“ His voice died when he realized the state that she was in.

The ash had rolled its way past her abdomen and was still making its way up her body, at a pace that would consume her in the next minute or so.

Panic shot through him as he was put on high alert. Tears pricked at his eyes. This was all his fault. He shouldn’t have let his emotions get to him. He knew this. And still he let it consume him anyway. What kind of partner was he? And now thanks to him he was going to lose Ladybu-

“Chat… I need my lucky charm.” She rasped. His eyes snapped toward her, his thoughts put on the back burner. Despite her situation, she seemed oddly calm. It was obvious she was in quite a bit of pain though. There were tears in her eyes, and she was shivering in the places where she had yet to be frozen.

Seeing where she gestured with her now blackened fingers, he followed the direction with his eyes and saw a red and black polka dot leaf blower. Realizing her intentions, Chat scrambled to get up and sprint for the object. He snatched it and rushed back to his lady with it in his arms.

“…You’re going to have to put it in my hands.” The black had already crawled its way up her arms, freezing them in place, and had nearly covered her chest. She sounded incredibly short of breath, whether it be because of the lingering cloud of ash, her organs shutting down, or that her chest was nearly frozen. He didn’t want to think about the last two.

“Okay.” He set it in her arms gently, fearing that her arms might snap off due to they’re current state. As soon as he set it down, she took in a worryingly shallow breath. The ashy color was clawing its way up her neck.

“Miraculous… Lady…bug” It was barely a whisper. He wasn’t even sure it would work since she couldn’t throw it. A moment passed. Half her face was black. Her eyes gazed at him with a sort of comfort he couldn’t understand. He hoped that she wasn’t saying goodbye.

The leaf blower burst into a swarm of ladybugs and made their way around the city, turning the dust back into buildings, bringing back roads. That wasn’t what he was focusing on though.

Ladybug looked like a statue. Her figure a monochrome echo of herself. What if there is so much damage that the cure gets used up before it gets to Ladybug? What if she’s like this forever? Maybe it’s the universe’s way of punishing him for getting himself akumatized.

The thoughts swirled in his head, distracting him from the swarm of ladybugs that had formed around his partner.

He startled back into reality when a familiar pair of arms wrapped around him.

“It’s alright, Chaton. I’m here.” He melted into the hug, sniffling. The sniffling turned into soft hiccups, and developed until he was pressing his face into her shoulder, bawling his eyes out. Ladybug continued to coo soft reassurances, hoping to ease her partners pain. She was still a bit shaken after the whole ordeal.

Eventually the crying lessened, until his breathing became steady again. They stayed there, enjoying each other’s company for the time being. Reminding themselves that the other was there.

A shrill beeping interrupted their moment. Looking up, Chat realized his partner was down to two spots. Sighing, he parted himself from the embrace.

“You should go.” He looked away, not wanting to see her leave.

She watched her partner, upset that he was right. Neither of them wanted to go.

“Can we meet at the tower, in about 30 minutes?” He looked back up surprised by her answer. Then smiled.

“Sounds good, Bugaboo.” She laughed. With a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, she got up off of their spot on the road.

“I’ll see you then, Chaton.” Then she turned around, and swung away.

Realizing that he was still sitting on the pavement, he got to his feet, and made his way back onto the rooftops. At least he still had something to look forward to.

**Author's Note:**

> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! I'm soooooorrrrrrrrryyyyyyy!!! This was painful to write. But I had this idea and I had to get it down quickly. Anyway, hope there weren't to many errors or that my poor writing took away from the idea of the story. If I'm feeling up to it I may edit this with some art work or turn it into a comic or animatic, we'll see!


End file.
